Sludge Futures
by Ethan Andrews The shuttered Coastal Resources of Mainae recycling facility in Hampden (Photo: Ethan Andrews) Municipal Review Committee member communities in the midcoast (Source: Municipal Review Committee)
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2 At a January 19 presentation to the Municipal Review Committee, the nonprofit that represents 115 Maine municipalities in matters of trash, Rob Van Naarden, CEO of Delta Thermo Energy, described a scene that sounded as if it were from another era.
“As we speak here today, there are barges that are moving from New York City south, outside the 12-mile limit,” he said. “They put them in international waters. All they do is carry sewage sludge from New York City. It used to go to Louisiana to a landfill down there. But recently, a couple of months ago, they refused to take it. And so they’re looking for other places. We eliminate that need.”
MDI acts against pandemic plastic pollution
MOUNT DESERT ISLAND Almost two months ago, 8,000 bales of plastic waste, weighing nearly 10,000 tons, set sail on the Atlantic aboard a Northern Ireland cargo ship, the Sider London. Two of the bales fell into Penobscot Bay during offloading operations at the Sprague Energy Terminal in Searsport. Remnants of plastic from the incident drifted along the shores of Sears Island last month. The plastic waste was bound for Orrington, the home of Penobscot Energy Recovery Co. (PERC), to be burned and processed into energy.
Material Research President Jim Vallette used this recent occurrence to explain the complexities of Maine’s plastic waste system at last week’s virtual meeting hosted by Indivisible MDI. Vallette and others from his Southwest Harbor-based research organization have been following plastic for over 30 years. “It was really a shock to see waste come into the U.S. because waste follows the path of leas
Indivisible MDI January meeting
MOUNT DESERT The monthly meeting of Indivisible MDI will be online and take place on Wednesday, Jan. 13 at 6:30 p.m. The first meeting of 2021 will look ahead to the new legislative session, the new administration and what Indivisible MDI might do in 2021.
Rep. Genevieve MacDonald (District 134) will talk about her vision for the next session, her proposed legislation and answer questions. Among the issues she’ll discuss is tightening loopholes in Maine’s solid waste management laws. She authored a bill in response to a recent plastic spill in Penobscot Bay.
Rep. McDonald will be joined by Jim Vallette, MDI resident and president of Material Research L3C, which blazes new pathways of research into industrial practices and their worldwide impacts. Vallette will shed light on the recent plastic spill and discuss why coastal Maine is now on the path of least resistance for the world’s garbage. He will also share